1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for a motor vehicle for protecting vehicle occupants when there is an impact of energy directed laterally at a motor vehicle door due to a collision, having a connecting structure which has at least two parts, a first part and a second part, of which the first part is connected in a fixed manner with the motor vehicle door and the second part is connected in a fixed manner with an energy absorbing region of the motor vehicle body located in the vehicle interior and both parts, via at least one common joint region for conducting away at least part of the energy input laterally acting on the motor vehicle door which can be brought into operational connection with each other in the region of the motor vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The protection of occupants in motor vehicles is considered one of the main tasks in the design and new development of motor vehicles. A separate development objective serves for the configuration of distinct buckling zones in the front and rear regions which are capable of protecting the passenger cell largely securely in the event of front and rear-end collisions. In the case of lateral collisions however, the protection of occupants poses greater problems because of the small deformation paths that are available and the low absorption capacity of the lateral structure of a motor vehicle.
Known solutions for easing the danger to the occupants existing in the case of lateral collisions of motor vehicles provide for stiffening of the motor vehicle door. Profiles integrated in the motor vehicle door, which in vehicle transverse direction possess great stiffness and/or high energy absorption capacity, are known for example. DE 196 33 637 A1 discloses a vehicle door with lateral impact protection in the door frame for which arch-shaped holding bars are provided which in the event of a collision are twisted in such a manner and under a tensile load are deformed in the manner of an arresting net.
Stiffening of the lateral doors of this type by providing corresponding side members however is not always adequate to secure the occupants in serious collision cases since when the lateral door is subjected to an external force, the lateral door can be pushed through the door cutout of the vehicle body so that the survival space of the occupants is drastically confined and the chances of survival are similarly reduced.
In addition, the prior art has a series of measures which are suitable for transmitting forces acting on the lateral door to the vehicle body. For example through suitably large overlap between door and door cutout or through bolts protruding from the edge of the door, which in the event of a collision, engage in reinforced recesses of the door cutout of the motor vehicle body. DE AS 22 15674 for example shows a reinforcement device provided for a motor vehicle door which has a beam arched to the outside whose end sections upon deformation of the beam brought about by an external impact in a stretched shape enter into suitably stable recesses within the door frame. The beam preferentially has a profiled steel plate which typically is brought into the appropriate shape through forming.
To avoid an increase of the dead weight of the motor vehicle due to the above measures, a reinforcement device provided for a motor vehicle door is described in DE 41 25 299 C2 which, for the sake of weight reduction, has a reinforcement arch-shaped beam device which is manufactured of fiber-reinforced composite material. In this case, too, the reinforcement device is entirely located within the door which, in the event of a collision, because of the concomitant deformation of the reinforcement beam, emerges from the door with the end regions on both sides, which in turn engage in operational interaction with stable support flanks in the doorframe of the motor vehicle body.
A passenger cell is shown in DE 198 39 519 A1 which functions as a protection device for the vehicle occupants in the event of a lateral collision which provides a cross member construction in the event of a collision for establishing a rigid transverse connection between the vehicle door and the center console so that the sitting region is protected against vehicle door regions entering the passenger cell. The cross member construction merely is activated in the event of a collision by pyrotechnical or pneumatic actuators which extend the jointed cross member construction design while forming a stable cross connection which is otherwise integrated in the seat, door and center console covering.